The growth and properties of N-polar Ga N layers by metal organic chemical vapor deposition(MOCVD) were reported. It is found that N-polar Ga N grown on normal sapphire substrate shows hexagonal hillock surface morphology. With the misorientation angles increasing from 0.5° to 2.0° toward the a-plane of the sapphire substrate, the number of the hillock becomes less and less and finally the surface becomes flat one on the sapphire substrate with the misorientation angle of 2°. It is also found that the crystalline quality and the strain in the Ga N are greatly influenced by the misorientation angle.
By using temperature-dependent current-voltage, variable-frequency capacitance-voltage, and Hall measurements, the effects of the thermal oxidation on the electrical properties of Ni/Au Schottky contacts on lattice-matched Ino.18Alo.82N/GaN heterostructures are investigated. Decrease of the reverse leakage current down to six orders of magni- tude is observed after the thermal oxidation of the Ino.18Alo.82N/GaN heterostructures at 700 ℃. It is confirmed that the reverse leakage current is dominated by the Frenkel-Poole emission, and the main origin of the leakage current is the emis- sion of electrons from a trap state near the metal/semiconductor interface into a continuum of electronic states associated with the conductive dislocations in the InxAll-xN barrier. It is believed that the thermal oxidation results in the formation of a thin oxide layer on the InxAll-xN surface, which increases the electron emission barrier height.